The secret of business

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: July 21st, 2010

The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.

Aristotle Onassis (The Economist 1991)

Property Project – Day 2 The Men in White

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: July 20th, 2010

Well, Day 1 went pretty good. Not too many hassles.  The shed had been emptied out of all contents (and they now all sitting in a friend’s garage feeling very lonely). Whatever didn’t fit there either got thrown out or put in a corner, hopefully out of the way of the contractors.

The Men in White arrived bright and early. And by lunch time, the shed was GONE ! Good to see that they wore protective gear … One cant be too careful these days with asbestos. I know of one case where the asbestos removal went very wrong and the contractor ended up having to pay over $40,000 to fix the asbestos contamination! Yep! You read that right … over $40,000! So its best to get it right first time.

Property Project – Day 1 Goodbye Shed

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: July 19th, 2010

Its all about managing the property project. Take a deep breath and jump in -  just one step at a time and making sure each is done properly. (Actually, its never as scary as it looks … Honest!)

So Day 1 and we say Goodbye Shed … One could get sentimental about it (or not) – but its got asbestos walls and roof – not exactly the ideal material to have around the house. BTW the graffiti was painted by my daughter and her friends. They were let loose on the shed since it was being demolised.

Sub-Dividing Your Property

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: July 18th, 2010

Is the land that your house is on getting too large for you to handle? But you LOVE the area and you don’t really want to move to another house … Why not have your cake and eat it too? Instead of moving, sub-divide the land build yourself a new smaller house on a much smaller piece of land.

I’ve done just that … My house currently sits on 845 sqm of land and I HATE gardening with a passion. What better way to kill 2 birds with one stone. So I set about getting approval to sub-divide the land. That was the easy part – getting the paperwork was relatively painless (well, it is if you know what you’re doing).

Now for the REAL fun.

Rather than opt for the traditional double brick home, I’ve decided to go for the new alternative building material – Energy Lite panels to be precise. I’m told it will be a much quicker build time than with brick and with much higher energy rating.

Journey with me on my trials and tribulations with the building – and read all about the frustrations (I’ve been told that building a house is grounds for divorce!), the costs (I expect my pocket is going to suffer from this!) and hopefully the celebrations when I get to move into a brand new home.

Refugees or Just Illegal Migrants

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: July 9th, 2010

How any country deals with asylum seekers is a hot topic that arouses the righteous across both sides of the political fence. In the battle over border protection, our political leaders offer up quick fixes, stunts and slogans to prove that they are “right”.  This is a debate that splits a country.

On the one hand, we want to be compassionate and look after those who cannot look after themselves. On the other hand, we are perceived by many to be a soft touch. Is it fair that a group of people can land itself on a country with no papers and no money and expect to be granted permanent residency in a country whilst many others “do the right thing” and make sure that they apply for migration properly. Then when they arrive, they get a job and contribute their skills to their new country.

The boat refugees to Australia has certainly made this a hot topic for the forthcoming election.  On a personal note, I would have to question why some of these illegal boat refugees throw their paperwork overboard so that their identity cannot be proved. Do they have something to hide?  Tony Abbott’s suggestion of “no paperwork, no visa” would certainly put an end to this!

Another question – if these refugees are so desperate to leave their homeland because of persecution, why is it that when they arrive they insist that their host country must now conform to THEIR rules. As a migrant myself, my desire was to integrate into the way of life of my host country as quickly as is possible – to my mind, if I didn’t wish to integrate then I should not have migrated!

You Know You Have … Great Customer Service

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: July 2nd, 2010

You know you have … Given great customer service (and built trust) when an old client takes the trouble to hunt you down even though you haven’t done any work for them for 4 years and your surname has changed! Just this week I was on the receiving end of this and it sure does give you a boost. Ultimately, customer referral is the best (and cheapest) way of growing your business.

So often, businesses chase new business by going out of their way and spending lots of $$ to attract new customers. Yet, they don’t look after what they already have. So how do you give great service … and have your customers become advocates for your business?

At the heart of it all, we would say it boils down to just one thing – Caring! So many businesses only see the mighty dollar. Yet if you take time to stop and treat you customers as real people with real needs, and you go out of your way to help them with their needs, you will build yourself a loyal fan club who will tell all their friends about your business.

Leader

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: July 1st, 2010

A good leader inspires men to have confidence in him;
A GREAT leader inspires them to have confidence in themselves.

~ Unknown ~

Time to Change the World

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: June 29th, 2010

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever does.

Margaret Mead

Isn’t it amazing how the same principles keep surfacing time and time again. It’s the commitment, the time and just working at it, one step at a time. History is full of “world changers” – Wilberforce ended slavery through sheer persistence (it certainly didn’t happen overnight) … Mandela spent many years in prison but emerged victorious …

We could do worse than learn the lessons from these leaders – Commitment, perseverance, hard work, patience and passion are all qualities that would help you negotiate your way through your business life.

President Obama and Internet Censorship

Posted by: Patsy Lim Post date: June 28th, 2010

The “Internet Kill Switch” bill, or its official name The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act in America moves to the floor after it was approved by a key Senate Committee yesterday. Under the guise of national security (and we’ve all heard this from China before), the US government is proposing to hand President Obama the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight! What it means is that President Obama would have absolute power to close down networks, and block incoming Internet traffic from certain countries under a declared national emergency.

I don’t know about you – but this smells of Big Brother wanting to curb freedom of speech. After all, it was the Internet that helped President get elected to the Presidency. It was the independent news portal Malaysia Today and the Malaysian government’s inability to control the Internet that helped the Opposition party break the UMNO stronghold in Malaysia. For more information on this, check out Prison Planet.

Many of domains are now hosted in USA. Should we be worried … ??

10 Rules for an Executive’s Early Ulcer

Posted by: Terry Smith Post date: June 27th, 2010

Came across this list when I was going over my archives (Us accountants just don’t throw anything away) …

1. Your job comes first – all personal considerations are secondary.
2. Go to the office evenings, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
3. Take your brief case regularly with you – in this way you can review completely all the troubles and worries of the day.
4. Never say “no” to a request.
5. Accept all invitations to meetings, banquets, committees etc.
6. Don’t eat a restful and relaxing meal – always plan a conference for meal hour.
7. Regard fishing, golf, etc as a waste of time.
8. Believe it is poor policy to take all your holidays.
9. Never delegate responsibility – carry the whole load yourself.
10. If your work calls for travelling, work all day and drive all night, so that you can keep the next day’s appointments.

Can’t remember where this came from … It does makes you reflect on our time management. How often have you heard your families and friends tell you to “take a break”.  But we know better and we continue to work 24/7 (well, at least that’s what you’re being told!). Have you ever heard anyone say on their deathbed that they wished they spent more time at work?